The North Rhine Westphalian Federal Programme for Talent Search, Talent Identification and Talent Development Norbert Köhn, Landesstelle Talentförderung

The North Rhine Westphalian Programme for Talent Search, Talent Identification and Talent Development … - is a common programme shared by the Ministry of the Interior in North Rhine Westphalia (Innenministerium NRW) and the North Rhine Westphalian Sports Federation (LandesSportBund NRW e.V.) -was established in deals particularly with the cooperation of schools, sports clubs and sports federations in North Rhine Westphalia.

The North Rhine Westphalian Programme for Talent Search, Talent Identification and Talent Development … -is devoted to the development of high performance sports for young athletes -its mission being the responsible, sustainable, cautious, and purposeful development of young and talented athletes on their way to top-levels -attends to athletes also with regard to their school career, their social and individual development -supports them in the field of sports medicine.

The Federal Government of North Rhine Westphalia and the North Rhine Westphalian Sports Federation stand up for … a human and doping-free top development sports of young athletes.

 Such a responsible target can only be achieved under several conditions -training measures in accordance with their age and their individual physical and psychological development - supporting measures to guarantee that the young athletes can both fulfil sports as well as educational demands - a long-term and systematic development of their performance

 The structure of the North Rhine Westphalian Programme for Talent Search, Talent Identification and Talent Development pursues and achieves its targets in five so-called „action fields“

Action Field 1: partnerships of schools and sports clubs  46 talent centres and 250 talent promotion projects  4500 schools and 2000 sports clubs co-operate  There are ca talent search and 1100 talent promotion groups at schools  48,000 pupils practise sports every week introducing them to competitive sports.

Action Field 1: partnerships of schools and sports clubs - These groups form the basis of school competitions on federal and /or national level (JUGEND TRAINIERT FÜR OLYMPIA) - Approx athletes (D-/ and/or D/C-cadre-athletes) have come off these cooperations - They amount to ca. 60% of all North Rhine Westphalian cadre- athletes.

Action Field 2: Training and further educational measures of junior and experienced coaches - Local, regional and federal measures are offered and carried out on a regular basis - They are planned in co-operation with university sports departments and the North Rhine Westphalian Olympic Centres. - They are designed to further qualify coaches with regard to their task of developing top athletes.

Action Field 3: Development of new training concepts as well as competitions for young athletes - New training concepts are being developed for all sports - These include the development of new competitions - They are permanently improved intended to guarantee versatile basic training sessions for young and talented children.

Action Field 4: Pedagogical and medical support for young athletes  Our sports schools (cooperative system of school and competitive sports) … support talented athletes and reduce their workload with different measures and are characterized by -proximity of school and training venue, -full-time or part-time boarding school, -high number of cadre-athletes -a competitive and sports-conducive sports profile

Action Field 4 ctd.  Further supporting measures of the North-Rhine Westphalian cooperative system of school and competitive sports are -special sports classes for talented athletes with additional sports lessons -further sports workshops and sports projects with adjacent sports clubs -sports „boarding schools“ (full-time or part-time) giving students special tuition, support them doing their homework, make up for lessons which had to be missed due to sports competitions -annual medical check-ups for all pupils in sports classes

Action Field 5: Workshops and conferences designed to exchange the experiences of the various partners co- operating in the federal programme  an annual SYMPOSIUM „TALENT SEARCH AND TALENT PROMOTION“ in cooperation with the RUHROLYMPIADE.  participants are representatives from sports departments of universities, coaches, teachers and other experts.  last year‘s focus was on C ompetitive sports for young athletes on the test bed  further measures: several central and regional courses, seminars and information meetings of officials/functionaries

In conclusion,  the federal programme for talent search, talent identification and talent development enables young and talented athletes to ideally combine their - professional training for top performance sports and - their educational targets, i.e. a well- qualified school exam and certification.

 I would like to thank you very much for your attention  You are welcome to comment on my presentation and ask any questions. presented by: Carl-Otto Held, Bezirksregierung Köln